


family is what you make of it

by schwertlilie



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe - Assassins & Hitmen, Alternate Universe - Human, Drabble Collection, M/M, Multi, Organized Crime, nonlinear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-21
Updated: 2014-09-21
Packaged: 2018-02-18 05:46:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2337419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/schwertlilie/pseuds/schwertlilie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Yong-Soo used to be a small-time grifter with his adopted brothers, but now he's got employees of his own (and all the headaches that come with them). Drabble series.</p>
<p>(Or, the organized crime/assassins AU you never knew you wanted, and probably never asked for.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	family is what you make of it

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CloudedAbandon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CloudedAbandon/gifts).



> About names: most are fandom standard, but "the old man" is Germania and Maarten is the Netherlands.
> 
> Content/trigger warnings are at the end.

**_eagle in winter_ **

Gilbert and Ivan were the first of Yong-Soo's employees to be truly _his_ , not just hand-me-downs from the old man. 

They hated each other; had come to Yong-Soo's attention _because_ they hated each other. He'd been looking for some muscle, to guard himself and his people since Kiku.. left. Yao had shown him the arrest announcement, convinced him to masquerade as their distant cousin and pay their bail. They'd been fighting in public again, their brawling getting more intense each time they met, and this time they hadn’t even managed a drink before Gilbert had thrown a stool at Ivan’s head.

A few favours, some bribes, and Yong-Soo had a face-to-face meeting with the two. He offered them employment, and shelter, and protection for their families. It was the last that sold them, he could see it in the tilt of Ivan’s head and the way Gilbert avoided his eyes: a younger brother and two sisters, respectively, that were having trouble making ends meet. 

The upkeep for the siblings was a pittance compared to the value of these two as bodyguards, and enough of a reward for Ivan and Gilbert to stop trying to kill each other every other month. The two still don’t get along, and probably never will, but Yong-Soo has given them enough other targets that they can redirect their anger onto more disposable faces.

 

**_twins_ **

Yong-Soo found Alfred and Matthew when they were working a con - it was almost beautiful, really, the way they slid between roles and into each other's skins. He followed them, baited them. Snared them. 

 

When Yong-Soo needed information, he sent the twins. Alfred was an everyman, with a smile and joke for every situation and able to be a part of every crowd. Even spiteful Arthur couldn't stay angry with him, though he pretended otherwise. He was second-to-none at putting people at ease, getting them to say more than they intended, than they realised. He was the decoy.

Matthew was the other side of his brother's coin; where Alfred shone, he blended, unremarkable. He fit into every crowd, but no one remembered him after he was out of sight; he was able to go anywhere, do anything. He was the one who stole into apartments or offices, taking or planting whatever was needed. So long as he stayed away from Alfred while on the job, the mark didn't realise there were two of them; a review of security tapes would prove that Alfred had been there, in plain sight, at all times. 

They traded personas like hand towels: Matthew sometimes found it easier to be Alfred, visible; and it was easy to forget that Alfred could be as quiet as his brother, dim that smile to something secret. Only a few in the organisation bothered to learn to tell them apart; Gilbert knew, and Yong-Soo and Francis. But what one twin knew the other soon would, and it was just as easy to treat them both like "Alfred." 

 

They never talked about why they joined the organisation. When Yong-Soo extended the invitation, one glance, one touch of fingertips, was all it took before they both nodded, followed him to his car. Yong-Soo knew the boys were good enough to disappear, if they really wanted to, and treated them like the important assets they were. The twins agreed, without speaking, that they liked knowing where their next meal was coming from and the excitement of running bigger operations than they could pull on their own; they never tried to leave.

 

**_folded steel_ **

Yong-Soo didn't know who took Kiku's betrayal harder - himself or Yao. 

They'd been together from the beginning, the three of them. In and out of foster care: Yao too strict, Kiku too reserved, Yong-Soo too troublesome for children, as children, to stay with one family for long. When Yao was old enough to work, he moved to another city; they joined him. 

The first few years were hard, with Yao working odd jobs to make ends meet, Kiku and Yong-Soo too young to do more than part-time work. So Yong-Soo got the idea to start a side business, small cons; just enough to help with the bills. "Just enough" was "too much," and they were picked up by the old man. (Yong-Soo called him "Legolas" behind his back; he pretended not to notice.) He told them to join him or quit the business, gave them a day to decide.

It hadn't required much discussion - the wages were better than they could hope to make as takeout delivery boys or theme park workers, and it looked _interesting_. They said yes, and the old man took them under his wing. Ten years later they were in charge of the city, the old man concentrating on his operations abroad. They'd settled into their old roles from the system - Yao the trouble-shooter, Kiku the guardian, Yong-Soo the public face. 

Then Kiku stole information, enough to have them thrown in prison and then killed by the old man, and nearly killed Yao when the other got in his way.

 

Now Yong-Soo waits. There are whispers that Kiku went to the Vargas family; so long as they stay whispers, Yong-Soo will not move, and Romulus has the good sense not to flaunt his new acquisition. But if Kiku shows his face again, Yong-Soo will show _him_ the consequences of hurting family. 

 

**_bleach_ **

Gilbert came with Ivan, and Ludwig came with Gilbert. Simple as that, and as complicated.

 

Yong-Soo was certain that Ludwig was obsessive-compulsive. At first, he only kept his quarters spotless, and it was considered a cute, if useless habit. Yong-Soo began shifting things when he visited, a centimeter at a time when Ludwig was out of the room, to see if he would notice. Ludwig did, moving the clock and rotating the lamp until they were in their proper places, trying not to glare at Yong-Soo. 

So Yong-Soo made him an offer: to become Yong-Soo's cleaner. The business was branching out, becoming more sophisticated than intimidation and loan sharking, and they needed a way to cover their tracks. Ludwig accepted; Gilbert exploded. By the time Gilbert returned to work, his bruises had mostly faded, and Ludwig had been sent to a not-quite-ally in another city to learn his trade. 

 

There was a peace to making rooms right again, Ludwig believed. He looked at a photo, the natural spill of papers across a desk and the angle of the lampshade for reading, and made the scene match the lived-in serenity of the picture. Where there was no photo, he guessed. He worked calmly, but quickly, cleaning up blood spatter and fiber evidence, knowing when to wipe down surfaces and when to leave them. The Vargas family had taught him that sometimes it was safer to leave evidence, to hide it amongst the remains of a life. An office chair without fingerprints was suspicious, made the police look harder for pieces of information that didn't fit. There was _no sense_ in staging an accidental death, or a suicide, only to alert a detective with a perfectly-vacuumed carpet.

Ludwig finished adjusting the noose, rope the same thickness and type Arthur had used to strangle the target, and nodded. Pulled the stool from beneath the dead man's feet, set it at a likely angle. Now he only had to pack his bag before heading home. Maybe an e-mail from Feliciano would be waiting for him, with their plans for the weekend.

 

Yong-Soo had known about the friendship between Ludwig and the younger Vargas grandson almost before they did (aided by an angry Romulus shouting at him over the phone that "That kraut is going to spoil my grandson's innocence, you turd, why'd you have to send him _here_?"). After Ludwig returned, gathered his courage and asked for time off to visit the Italian boy, Yong-Soo smiled, gave his blessing. Happy employees were loyal employees, and the tragedy of lovers separated by distance and allegience was a staple of K-dramas, after all. 

 

**_burnt umber_ **

Arthur was a transfer from another of the old man's operations; Francis was a "gift" from Romulus. (Yong-Soo suspected the "gifting" was connected to certain rumours about Francis and the older grandson's bodyguard.) Their skills matched perfectly. Their personalities.. didn't.

Arthur seemed determined to be a stereotypical Englishman - disgusting food, possessive fondness for the Rolling Stones, an addiction to tea. Likewise, Francis drank wine at every meal, pulled roses from Yong-Soo did _not_ want to know where, and flirted with all of his co-workers. Both slid between stereotypes, Francis a lustful philistine until one fell into his trap, Arthur a gentleman up to the point his switchblade made a mess of one's ribcage. The only constant seemed to be their avowed hatred for each other.

(Yong-Soo was certain the old man was testing him. Or playing an elaborate joke. One of the two.)

But when they stopped fighting, they were unstoppable. Hidden under their respective facades were encyclopedias of knowledge, enabling them to put pieces of unrelated information together into a useful whole. It was Arthur who identified the mark's grasp of her fork as American; Francis who picked out her SUV in the parking lot; Arthur who planted the bomb under the front passenger's seat. 

They were useful beyond "work," as well. Yong-Soo and Yao had always preferred espionage and blackmail to straight-up assassination - dead men don't pay - though they accepted contracts. Arthur and Francis could follow a man for a day and construct his month; when the twins joined the organisation, they worked together to plan larger operations. They generally got along, Alfred distracting Arthur from his tirades against Francis; though Matthew pointedly ignored Francis after _that_. (It was becoming a strain on operations; Yong-Soo wondered how much longer it would go on.)

 

All told, Yong-Soo wasn't surprised to walk into his kitchen to find Arthur bending Francis over the table, pants around their ankles. 

He turned around quietly; he doesn't think they ever knew he was there.

 

**_coins_ **

Alfred is Alfred, and Matthew is not-Alfred.

Alfred decided early on, one night when his father came home drunk and Al told Matt to hide under the bed, that he was going to live like a hero in a Hollywood movie. He wasn't content with being just a protagonist: he wanted to help people, right wrongs, and look stunning while doing so. So once they had enough money to run away from home, he began to choose their marks based on whether or not they'd hurt someone, and he made sure that part of his cut always went to charity. He couldn't always help the victims of their marks, but he could damned well make sure other kids wouldn't have to choose between starving in freedom or being fed but beaten. If his brother is always the one to do more of the sneaking and Mission: Impossible-type things, well, Alfred does more of the James Bond, wining and dining the rich and the beautiful while deluding them about everything from his profession to his age. 

The creation of an "Alfred" that wasn't just _Alfred_ started as a game. "Alfred" was good at everything, from sports to school, if a little absent-minded about conversations and friendships. Alfred took his science classes, Matthew his arts, and they spent the spare time planning their escape from the two-bedroom apartment. It's still a game, now that they work for Yong-Soo, but with different stakes - amusement instead of bruises. They keep a tally on how long it takes each co-worker to figure out that there are two "Alfreds;" if it goes past three months, they "help" by waiting until the target gets drunk, have one twin make out with them, and then have the other twin appear over the first's shoulder, both in "Alfred"-mode. 

Arthur holds the record for longest (three months and two days); Francis, Gilbert, and Yong-Soo share the record for shortest (one day), though they suspect Yong-Soo had them under surveillance for far longer. 

Matthew is as close to Alfred as his own right hand, and Alfred happily shares everything with him - his books, his girlfriends, his life. But Alfred doesn't like to share Matthew - it's one thing for the twins to double-team some (lucky) soul or either of the "Alfreds" to have someone on the side, and it's another for Matthew to have relationships Alfred isn't part of. So when comes home to find the local drug dealer sucking Matthew's cock on the sofa, he waits until their visitor is gone, cooks dinner, and reminds his twin where he belongs. Who he belongs _to_. 

 

Alfred is Alfred, and Matthew is Matthew.

Matthew knows he owes his brother, but his brother owes him too. For every night spent huddled under the bed there was a meal smuggled up to their room, a detention not served or a parent-teacher conference avoided because the administrator couldn't find the paperwork. Even now they finish each other's sentences while planning, each finding and fixing problems with the operations before they ever go into action. More than once Yong-Soo has smiled, thanked both of them for creating plans that get his people back alive. 

And as useful as "Alfred" is, Matthew wants something of his own, something not shared with his twin. He's had quite enough of being "Alfred" in order to get laid, thank you very much, even if their partners' expressions when they realise there are two "Alfreds" are hilarious. When he meets the Dutch man down the street (while he was paying protection money to Yong-Soo, no less), he thinks that yeah, this might be it. That Maarten Benelux might be it. They talk - Maarten's sister wants to be a chocolatier so he's saving up to pay her apprenticeship fees, his brother wants to be a tour guide, and Maarten himself grows tulips among his marijuana plants. (Matthew thinks he should introduce Maarten to Sadiq sometime soon.) Maarten doesn't laugh when Matthew talks about buying a maple farm someday, or taking his money and building a cabin in the Laurentians. 

They also cook, and watch TV, and have sex, though he tries to be discreet about it; he knows how Al feels about anything that might take Matt away from him, and the last thing he wants is to hurt his twin. Alfred walking back through the door while Matthew is getting a blow-job is a mistake - grocery shopping usually takes two hours, because of traffic and Al's love of open markets, and it's only been one - but he's too close to orgasm at the time to care. He's not surprised when Alfred backs him against the counter that night, fucks him into the mattress. Afterward they trade lazy kisses under their comforter, bodies touching as much as possible, and Matthew knows that for all his talk with Maarten he'll never be able to walk away from his twin. He tells himself it's because he loves Al; he doesn't admit that after so long as not-Alfred, he's not sure he knows who Matthew is.

**Author's Note:**

> No concrit please, this fic is _old_ (ca. early 2010) and I can see plenty I'd do differently if I wrote this today; I just dusted it off for CloudedAbandon. 
> 
> Other bits that didn't make it into full drabbles include: Sadiq/Turkey is with Yong-Soo because ~something~ happened with Greece in Romulus' organization; Romulus & the old man have a (usually) friendly rivalry that Yong-Soo dreads going sour; and 
> 
> Content warnings for: implied OCD; references to murder, suicide, and the clean-up thereof; sibling incest and messed up relationships; off-screen past child abuse (not csa) and teen runaways. If I missed anything, please drop me a comment and I'll edit this.


End file.
